Foster set for United chance

Edwin van der Sar’s untimely bad break has given Ben Foster the chance he has been craving for at Old Trafford.

Van der Sar is facing the prospect of eight weeks out after undergoing surgery on a broken finger and bone in his left hand.

The 38-year-old Dutchman sustained the injury saving a penalty from Danijel Pranjic in the Red Devils' 7-6 shoot-out defeat to Bayern Munich in the pre-season Audi Cup in Germany.

It means Foster, who played the first half of United’s 2-0 friendly win over Valencia on Wednesday, is in line to face Chelsea in the Community Shield at the weekend before starting the season as United’s number one.

The 26-year-old, who has appeared 10 times in the United first team, is expected to be Fergie’s preferred choice ahead of Tomasz Kuszczak.

Ferguson is a big fan of the player and believes the former Watford stopper will go on to become an England regular, despite the fact that he’s only played once for his country under Fabio Capello.

“Ben Foster will be England's goalkeeper in South Africa, I have absolutely no doubts about that," Ferguson said last month.

"He is streets ahead of any other English goalkeeper.

"He has magnificent abilities. He is lightning quick, has excellent use of the ball and is exceedingly brave. He is a top drawer goalkeeper."

Foster, who has just penned a new four-year deal, has himself been the victim of a catalogue of injuries since he was signed from Stoke four years ago.

After two seasons on loan at Watford, a cruciate ligament injury wrecked his first season at Old Trafford, a broken finger then cost him a place at last year's Club World Cup in Japan before a thumb injury ended his hopes of appearing on the bench for last term's Champions League final defeat to Barcelona.

The latter problem was particularly costly given Foster would almost certainly have won two more caps in the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra last month.